Posted!

Join the Conversation

Comments

Welcome to our new and improved comments, which are for subscribers only.
This is a test to see whether we can improve the experience for you.
You do not need a Facebook profile to participate.

You will need to register before adding a comment.
Typed comments will be lost if you are not logged in.

Please be polite.
It's OK to disagree with someone's ideas, but personal attacks, insults, threats, hate speech, advocating violence and other violations can result in a ban.
If you see comments in violation of our community guidelines, please report them.

Vineland Board of Education proposes 4-percent tax hike

VINELAND – The proposed 2020-21 school district budget calls for a 4-percent tax hike, earmarks money to place armed guards in schools and doesn't cut any staff.

The $196.2 million spending plan for the state’s 17th largest school district is up $176,303 over last year, business administrator Gene Mercoli said during Wednesday’s unveiling. This nudges the school tax rate up 2.7 cents to 67 cents per $100 of assessed property value.

That means the owner of a home with the average $159,721 assessment, would pay an additional $42.65 in annual school tax.

Vineland Public Schools 2020-2021 budget(Photo: Deborah M. Marko)

Among the budget highlights:

ARMED GUARDS: The district currently spends $2.22 million on school security staff consisting of 29 full-time and 40 part-time positions as well as substitutes.

The draft proposes increasing that line item to $2.92 million to fund 25 full-time and 44 part-time positions, substitutes, and 18 armed guards, roughly one per school, that would be contracted through an agency.

Four current full-time guards would move to other full-time positions within the district, so no one would lose their employment, Mercoli said, adding no school would have less security personnel than they have now.

The budget draft sets aside the money, but the district is still working on how to implement the plan. Several members of the public voiced support for the additional layer of protection but others raised concerns about students being uncomfortable in “militarized” schools.

Tracey Huggins, a mother and grandmother, voiced her concerns that the plan seemed to be a done deal when she thought there would be “public conversation and actual feedback between the board and the rest of us.”

“When you say the framework is in place for armed presence in our schools, who did you talk to prior to making this framework,” she said, turning to the audience. “I don’t know if any of you had any conversation or part in that, I know most of us did not.”

She added that “data does not support the notion of increasing safety with a highly militarized gun-laden environment,” she said, adding “minority children are harmed disproportionately when such a presence exists.”

Former Mayor Perry Barse spoke in favor of armed security.

“It’s a shame we have to have this conservation in this day and age, but it has to be said,” Barse said. “There are a lot of districts around the country that would have wished that they had thought about this and acted on this before tragedy took place.”

TRANSPORTATION: A few years ago, the district appeared to be reducing its transportation department. Now they are making an investment, acquiring 28 school buses and constructing a $2.7 million bus depot off Coney Avenue. This would eliminate the bus yards on West Avenue as well as at the rear of Wallace Intermediate School on Mill Road. It’s projected the higher efficiency will save the transportation department $400,000 per year. The district’s current vehicle fleet consists of 283 vehicles, including 149 active buses and 36 inactive buses, which will be sold by auction.

Last year, half of the district school bus routes were contracted to outside providers, Mercoli said.

“They were not Vineland buses pulling in the school yards,” he said. “We did take back half of those routes this year; we’re are taking the other half back next year.”

FACILITIES PROJECTS: On the district’s to do list:

Durand- Classroom HVAC unit replacement.

Landis – piping replacement.

Mennies – a front entrance way replacement.

Rossi – gym divider curtain.

Wallace – replacing a peeling epoxy kitchen floor

Vineland High School North – bathroom upgrades and concrete repair renovations to nurse’s suite for in-school medical office. The district is now negotiating with medical service provider CompleteCare Center to provide an on-site physician to serve students.

Implementing a district-wide energy saving improvement plan.

WISH LIST: The largest appropriation in the budget, $61 million, funds regular programs and special education, but there were appeals from the public to restore basic skills teachers, cut in previous budgets, to help struggling students.

School board members, including president Scott English, supported that, suggesting the district find an alternative way to provide that service. He noted Bridgeton Public Schools has a program that taps retired teaching staff.

“If we can focus on that foundation area between K-5, I think if we can come up with some funding …something is better than nothing,” English said. “It’s important to let the public know and our teachers and principals know that we didn’t forget about it or give up on it – it’s a work in progress.”

If approved as is, district taxpayers will contribute $25.6 million toward the budget with state aid funding the lion’s share.

That’s followed by employee benefits and insurance, totaling $37.6 million. The district reached agreements with its unions with salary increases ranging from at 2.5 to 3 percent.

Health insurance costs dipped due to a 1-percent drop in premiums.

This year state aid was up by $1.5 million, totaling $137.2 million.

The public hearing on the 2020-21 school budget is set for 6 p.m. April 27 at the Landis Administration Building, 61 W. Landis Ave.

Deborah M. Marko is a senior reporter with The Daily Journal. Currently focused on breaking news and education issues, she also oversees community outreach programs that promote literacy and public safety. Got a story idea? Call 856-563-5256. Follow on Twitter: @dmarko_dj Instagram: deb.marko.dj Help support local journalism with a The Daily Journal subscription.